New run shows testy challenge

Don Nelson of Grapevine, right, and Don Borger of Azle took the overall and masters titles in the men's division. Don, 51, has won several masters titles but hasn't been first overall in several years. He said he has hardly raced this summer and is preparing for the fall races.

Rosa Acevedo (right), 30, won her first female overall title in only her second 5K. Her friend and fellow Lockheed Martin employee Mandy Salinas won the women's 21-24 age division. Rosa said she used to jog long distances in high school but stopped. She started working out and running again with a group at work. She had no idea she would win overall. ``My goal is to complete.''

Don Nelson of Grapevine said he hasn't been racing this summer as he has been logging a little vacation time and racking up the miles on his Harley rather than the roads. Yet, the 51-year-old Grapevine resident was the first across the finish line in the inaugural Spur On 5K that started at finished at Glenview Baptist Church in Fort Worth.

Nelson won over the course that featured a challenging three-quarter of a mile incline to the finish in 19:25.7 on a warm Sept. 8 morning. Finishing behind him was another masters runner, Don Borger of Azle. He took home the men's masters title with a 20:22.

Winning the women's overall title was road-race newcomer Rosa Acevedo, 30, of Fort Worth. In only her second 5K, she won with a 24.22.7. Acevedo said she recently began running when a group of her working friends at Lockheed Martin began working out and running. One of those friends, Mandy Salinas, 24, also ran the Spur On and won her first age division title with a 25:42.7.

Nelson said the runners got a reprieve from the sun and climbing temperature when the course veered off Haltom Road onto a tree-lined trail, where they made a loop. But then there was the climb back to the finish.

``It would have been tough if I had had to race it,'' Nelson said. ``But (with a big lead) I obviously was taking it easy. I was liking that lead. That doesn't happen very often. Usually, I'm trying to catch someone.''

Borger said he started running in about 1980 to help keep his weight off. Even though his parents were runners, it was the weight gain that finally sent him more often to the roads where he has become a regular competitor.

Rosa said she used to jog long distances when in high school, but had stopped until recently. It was, then, a surprise that she won the overall women's trophy.

In her first 5K in July, Rosa said she ran about a minute faster and took third place.

Mandy said she began running in high school and ran some in college (not on the school teams). ``I did about six half marathons in college.'' She and Rosa both went to UT-Austin, so they were ready to cheer the Longhorns against the TCU Horned Frogs in a game Saturday evening.

Besides the 5K, there also was a 1K Fun Run. A few classic cars were on display, too.

Former principal ran first race
when he was 70

David Smith offers proof that it's never too late to begin running. He didn't run his first road race until he was 70, 10 years ago.

The 80-year-old North Richland Hills resident won the 75-older division at the Spur On 5K in Fort Worth on Sept. 8 with a 33:10.8. And even though he didn't begin running until he was 70, he has a collection of trophies.

His first 5K was the Haltom Stampede. Since then he was won his age division trophies twice in the Cowtown 5K (though it should have been three times, but a results error awarded first place to another runner).

``I was already finished when Sam (Baker) came in,'' David said. However, at the awards ceremony, Baker was named the winner and Smith as runner-up. He didn't stir up a controversy though because ``Sam's a nice guy.''

Another runner and BISD employee, Don Wakeman, talked him into running, Smith said. After running his first 5K at Haltom, he said, ``I was glad it was over. I didn't know if I could make it. I had to walk some of it.'' And, as all runners, he soon forgot the pain and believed he could do better with a little better training. ``I'll run two to three times a week,'' he said.

Smith, a former elementary principal, retired after 34 years and had the school named after him, ``They told me if I retired, they'd name the school (Browning Heights Elementary) after me. I couldn't pass that deal up,'' he said.

Because David has to protect himself from the sun, he has to wear long-sleeved shirts and long pants when he runs. ``I'd rather be wearing shorts,'' he said with a laugh